Cut-offs for admission to Delhi University touched a new high for the new academic session, with science courses registering the biggest jump of up to 15% in the first list announced on Monday.

The highest cut-off overall is 99.25% for BCom (Hons) at Hindu College for students who haven’t included any commerce subject in their ‘best of four’ percentage.

BCom (Hons) at the Shri Ram College for Commerce (SRCC) is 0.5% higher than last time at 96.5%. It is for candidates who have three accounts papers with mathematics. For the highly sought Economics (Hons), the cut-off is 96.75% for commerce students — an increase of 1.5%.

“The cut-offs are analytical and not guesswork,” said PC Jain, principal, SRCC.

Last year, SRCC had left students rattled with a BCom (Hons) cut-off of 100% even though it applied only to students who hadn't studied any commerce subject. In science, cut-offs for physics, mathematics and chemistry have left eyebrows raised. The highest is 97% for Physics (Hons) at Hindu College - up by 0.33% than last year. Kirori Mal College raised its Physics (Hons) cut-off by 2.66% to 94.66%.

Chemistry (Hons) at Ramjas College is 95.3%, a leap of 10.5%. The biggest jump in the science stream is 15% in BSc Physical Sciences - from 75% to 90%.

"The cut-offs are based on careful deliberation and analysis," said Rajendra Prasad, principal, Ramjas College.

Those interested in humanities got a breather, with the cut-offs largely the same as last year or seeing a marginal increase. An exception is 99% for History (Hons) at Hindu for those who haven't studied any arts subject.